Taliban foreign minister arrives in Pakistan

Sunday, January 23 4:50 PM SGT

ISLAMABAD, Jan 23 (AFP) - Afghanistan's Taliban Foreign Minister Mawlawi Wakil Ahmad Mutwakil arrived here Sunday on an official visit to Pakistan, flying on board a United Nations plane.

Mutwakil, who was accompanied by two officials, will hold talks with his Pakistani counterpart, Abdul Sattar, and senior officials on bilateral ties and issues of mutual concern, officials here said.

Earlier, foreign ministry officials in Kabul said Mutawakil would remain in Islamabad for three days.

The main purpose of the trip was to pave the way for an impending visit to Pakistan by Mulla Mohammad Rabbani, the head of the Taliban council in Kabul and the militia's number two, they said.

Pakistan is one of only three nations to recognize the Taliban regime, which controls most of Afghanistan. The other two are Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

This is Mutawakil's first visit to Pakistan since the military seized power here in October.

Another Taliban senior official, Mulla Amir Khan Muttaqi, returned to Kabul by the same UN flight, after a meeting with US officials in Islamabad on Thursday.

Taliban officials have had to take UN flights in and out of Afghanistan since its national carrier halted overseas operations because of UN aviation sanctions imposed in November.

Muttaqi said his talks with the US officials focused mainly on terrorism suspect Osama bin Laden, who is in Afghanistan, and that he warned them against trying to kill or arrest him.